How entertaining? ★★☆☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 22 December 2015
This a movie review of IN THE HEART OF THE SEA. |
YouTube review:
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“How does one come to know the unknowable?” Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw)
What is up with everyone’s accents? There are Brits, Irish and an Australian attempting to speak with an American lilt and it grates. Mostly adroit thespians, easily commanding the screen, give performances here not out of keeping at an unrehearsed school play. A clunking script does not help, and neither does being helmed by TV-movie-of-the-week director Ron Howard. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is a joyless affair striving for something grand, though it is not quite clear what feeling it is trying to evoke in us. ALL IS LOST meets GODZILLA, if the monster is a whale.
What is up with everyone’s accents? There are Brits, Irish and an Australian attempting to speak with an American lilt and it grates. Mostly adroit thespians, easily commanding the screen, give performances here not out of keeping at an unrehearsed school play. A clunking script does not help, and neither does being helmed by TV-movie-of-the-week director Ron Howard. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is a joyless affair striving for something grand, though it is not quite clear what feeling it is trying to evoke in us. ALL IS LOST meets GODZILLA, if the monster is a whale.
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A movie about the story that inspired the novel ‘Moby Dick’ might have had literary aspirations, but instead opts for monster movie stylings over intellectual introspection. Going the B-movie route could have made for a fun, unusual blast; what with being set predominantly in the 1820s. A rollercoaster it turns out is not in the skillset of Ron Howard and team. The pulse rarely quickens thanks to the shoddy look to the effects and the underwhelming carnage choreography.
A giant vengeful whale attacking a wooden ship, picking off its crew, via the resources of a big budget blockbuster and a classy cast, had the odds in its favour, surely? IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is not in the same league as JAWS or DEEP BLUE SEA or OPEN WATER.
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Before the widespread use of crude oil as an energy source, whales were hunted for the oil in their blubber. The destruction of such a species is moving. However, dwelling on environmental demolition is buried within a survival narrative. Watching these desperate stranded dudes is no LIFE OF PI. They are all guys, the dutiful wives are left behind. (See also Howard’s massively overrated APOLLO 13.) “I married a whale man” Peggy Chase (Charlotte Riley) of hubby Owen (Chris Hemsworth – who, like Bradley Cooper this year, has really shown the limits of his range). “You can finish your story now my love,” Mrs Nickerson (Michelle Fairley) to hubby Tom (Brendan Gleeson). Groan.
The barest character development comes in the class conflict between Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) and first mate Owen. The former a skipper thanks to nepotism and the latter reminded of his humble origins. Like the rest of the runtime, the theme goes nowhere.
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